Maternity dress



Aug. 18, 1936. A. E. HAISTER 2,051,444

MATERNITY DRESS Filed Oct. so, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 g mw g A Horney$ Aug. 18, 1936. A. E. HAISTER I 2,051,444

MATERNITY DRE S S Filed Oct. 30, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 4 ,.iaran Kai's/ 62 M fiMOrL- Home lnuen [or NITED, STATES PATEN'll' OFFICE I MATERNITY DRESS Aaron E. Haister, New York, N. Y. Application October 30, 1985, Serial No. 41,414

'3 Claims. (CL 1- 76) This invention relates to the broad class of ladies wearing apparel and has more explicit reference to that particular sub-division. thereof which embraces special garments generally known in the trade as maternity dresses.

Classified more specifically, the inventive conception when satisfactorily reduced to practice has to do with a more satisfactory and adiustable girth portion expressly adaptable to a slip on 7 dress of the wrap-around'type.

In keeping witha sincereand enthusiastic desire to provide a structure characterized by requisite simplicity and expediency and'outstanding in comfort and compensating properties I have, after painstaking and thoughtful effort discovered an ingenious coordination of complemental internal and external fastening means for the waist portion of the garment whichis deemed to be more aptly fitted than similar prior art structures and susceptible of appropriately meeting the demands of the user and trade in general.

outwardly, the improved dress has the guise of a well balanced garment either of the commonplace or highly fashionable mode, the adiustable waist portion being nevertheless variable and capable of progressive regulation withouirmaterially changing its ever. stylish appearance, a feature not found, it is believed, in my predecessors maternity wearing apparel. I

Stated along structural lines the preferred embodiment of the invention has been found to operate satisfactorily when made to utilize properly mated or matched snap fasteners cooperating with a properly arranged and concealed elastic adjustable compensating and take-up strap.

Qther features and advantages will become more readily apparent from the following description and drawiniifl.

In the accompanying pictorial drawings wherein like numerals are employed todesignate like parts throughout the views:

Figure 1 is a perspective drawing showing what may be described as a conventional maternity dress and depicting the features-of the invention in such way as to properly portray the merits and novelty.

Figure 2 is a front view with the dress removed from the wearer, a portion of the front or overlapping panelbeing broken away to expose the important details therebeneath;

Figure 3 is an enlarged horizontal sectionalview taken approximately on the plane of the line 3-3 of Figure 2. g

Figure4 is a fragmentary open or plan view disclosing the associated features which go to I gathering. This standardized or uniform cooperrather long row so that the parts I and! when make up the improved gather-proof girth or waist portion.. Figure 5 is a fragmentary drawing in perspective detailing the important compensating or take-up strap. 6

It is evident that the invention isapplicable to all types and varieties of garments of the so called wrap-around slip on type. In other words it could well be used in connection with ladies coats or even dresses of the non-maternity or con- 10 ventional type. At the same time it is more satisfactorily adaptable to a regulation dress of the type illustrated for example in- Figures 1 and 2.

It is unnecessary to go into detail concerning this dress other than to mention that it is unitarily l5 denoted by the numeral i, the adjustable girth or waist portion being differentiated by the numeral I while the inner or underlying panel of the front or skirt portion is represented at 8 and the overlapping or outer panel at 8. Suitable snap fasteners are employed and these may be of any appropriate. form but are preferably of the type which may be sewed or stitched on so that the ones not in use after the adjustment is made, may be readily removed to promote neatness of appearance. There is one row of snap fasteners, these being indicated by the numeral l0 and they are located or arranged in a line around the top of the panel I. They are arranged at definite distances apart and in practice are generally located one inch from each other. It is observed that these are on the exterior of the waistband. The complemental snap fasteners H are on the interior so that they may be properly matched or mated with the snap fasteners Iii. There is also a row of these fasteners i i and they too are spaced one inch apart so that they may be selectively engaged with the snap fasteners l0 according to conditions existing and this accomplished in a manner to substantially guard against unsightly ation of snap fasteners is believed to be essential in order to render the garment satisfactorily useful under all circumstances. In other words merely having a single snap fastener H on the extension flap of the part ll would hardly do. As a matter of fact it will be seen from Figure 3 that the snap fasteners must beextended over a considerable. distance, that is arranged in I a overlapped will come together in neat relationship and no portion thereof, will sag or get out of order. These inner and outer rows of snap fasteners II and l I constitute so-called external fastening means notwithstanding the fact that the fasteners l I are really on the inside of the garment. I merely describe the fasteners this way so as to distinguish from the totally concealed internal supplementary fastening means. This comprises a keeper eye It secured to the edge portion of the skirt section I. This is in alinement with the fasteners II. The assemblage also-includes the cooperating adjustable strap take-up device it, as better shownin Figure 5. The anchored end of the strap is securely stitched or otherwise fastened as at It to the interior of the back portion of the garment at about the waist line so that it will also cooperate with the snap fasteners. This part comprises an elastic strap ll of appro-. priate length having one end portion looped as indicated at It through a slidable hook II, the loop being adjustable by way of a sliding buckle II. -This makes an unusually practical unit to accomplish the result desired. In other words by bringing the section 8 around to the front and engaging the hook I'I with the eye l2 this makes it possible to enable the user to more satisfactorily employ the hands in adjusting or connecting the snap fasteners without further trouble. The main purpose of this unit I! is however to keep the two overlapping sections under constant yieldable stress so as to cause the waist portion to more coincidence with the co-relation of the snap fasteners III in relation to the companion snap fasteners I I. In other words a hand adjustment can be made as the girth portion of the garment is progressively increased. Even so, however, the structure does not gird the wearer but on the other hand promotes lasting comfort. It is evi.-.

dent that the elasticity of the strappermitsit to' possess the requisite compensating expanding and contracting result necessary to accommodate the wearer while standing, bending or reclining as the case may be. Rigid bow tied tapes such as are sometimes employed will obviously not do or take the place of this self-adapting feature.

Emphasis and stress is attached to the proper distancing or gauging of 'the application of the rows'of snap fasteners ill and Ii. This is necessarily so to provide proper mating or matching. It promotes precision and uniformity and avoids unmhfly gathering as before pointed out. There is obvious continuity and action between the features l2 and I3 and the snap fasteners Ill and II. In other words these parts operate collectively to provide the desired result based on sound reasoning to insure perfection of fit and accompanying comfort for the wearer. Thus the garment as madewith these features is better equipped and aptly fitted to serve the intended p p ses with requisite efficiency.

It is thought that persons skilled in the'art to which the invention relates will be able to obtain a clear understanding of the invention after considering the description in connection with the drawings. Therefore, a more lengthy description is regarded as unnecessary. Y

Minor changes inshape, size, and rearrangement of details coming within the field of invention claimed may be resorted to in actual practice, if desired.

Having thus described claimed as new is: j l. A maternity dress including a, vertically split skirt portion defining an underlying front section and a relatively adjustable overlying companion front section, a hook accommodation and retenthe waist line, a longitudinally adjustable elastic strap rigidly secured at one end to the inner surface of the back portion at the waist line and having a slidable hook engageable with said retention eye, a row of equally spaced snap fasteners secured longitudinally to the outer surface of said underlying front section in alinement with the waist line, and a "plurality of correspondingly spacedcompanion snap fasteners secured at the waist line to the inner surface of the overlapping skirt portionand selectively engageablewith the first named snap fastener.

the invention, what is .tion eye fixedly secured to the vertical edge portion of the underlying sectionin alinement with 2. In a wrap-around garment including a cir- *cumferentially expansible and contractible waist portion and a ,complementa'l skirt portion made up of a relatively stationary underlying front section. and a bodily adjustable overlying companion front section, complemental selectively usable separable fasteners attached to the respective front sections in alignment with said waist portion to facilitate and maintain the circumferential adjustment of said waist portion, a keeper eye secured to the free edge-of the underlying section in normal alignment with saidwaist portion, a free handling bodily movable allelastic adjusting and take-up strap solely connected and supported at one end to the inside of the back portion of said garment the free end portion of said strap' being formed into -a'longitudinally extensible and contractible locp,'said loop being provided with an adjustable buckle to facilitate lengthening and shorteningof the strap as a unit, and a slidportion of said underlying front section in a'p'osition in alignment with the normal-waist line of said skirt portion. a longitudinally adjustable horizontally disposable elastic strap rigidly secured.

at one end to the inner surface of the back portion of said waistline portion having a slida'ble hook engageable with said eye, a horizontal row of fasteners secured circumferentially to the outer surfaceof said underlying front section in alignment with said waistline, and a plurality of correspondingly arranged companion separable fasteners secured at the waistlineto the inner surface of the overlapping skirt portion and selectively engageable with said first-named fasteners.

AARON E. HAISTER. 

